The bonus is to increase success chance with bard skill, NOT about increasing the mastery spell effects.

Bards with any mastery get a 5% bonus to their success chance at using any bard skills and a 10% bonus to using the skill of their mastery focus.

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Effect duration is 1min, Cooldown is 15min:
- You double-click on ONE piece to activate 1min duration. (your armor color turns to Light purple on paperdoll)
- After 1min, you can d-click on ANOTHER piece to enjoy another 1min!
- That means you can enjoy 4min. Each piece has its own cool time. That makes the suit really useful now, instead of the false impression of just 1min total.

I probably wont touch the berserk suit, cuz there are many other warrior artifacts that have much better mods (pvm anyway). And so is the fisherman suit.

So I must say I am very happy with the bard suit! Even if you dont use the mastery spells, you still enjoy the noticeable success rate when doing discordance on tough boss.

Lower reagent cost? Does this mean that the bards instruments don't wear out? If not, it's got nothing to do with barding.

Lower Mana Cost? Bards don't use Mana....

4 full minutes of Bard Mastery? That seems like an awful lot.

With those levels of resistance, why bother with any defensive skills?

No offense, because I know that you are just playing the game and it's something to be proud of that you can put together this kind of set. My problem is: What the heck are the devs thinking by allowing this sort of equipment into the game? If this trend continues, then there will be no reason for reagents in game and no one will bother training up INT either. The mana regeneration is way out of line. C'mon! This is a huge example of the backward slide that continues down the muddy, glass covered hill of item escalation.

Instead of equipment, how about we see those skills get a workover so we can use them for more and better things? How about we make the game about character development, not item purchase (which leads to the inevitable need for more and more gold... we all know where that takes us).

Stratics VeteranSupporter

Lower reagent cost? Does this mean that the bards instruments don't wear out? If not, it's got nothing to do with barding.

Lower Mana Cost? Bards don't use Mana....

4 full minutes of Bard Mastery? That seems like an awful lot.

With those levels of resistance, why bother with any defensive skills?

No offense, because I know that you are just playing the game and it's something to be proud of that you can put together this kind of set. My problem is: What the heck are the devs thinking by allowing this sort of equipment into the game? If this trend continues, then there will be no reason for reagents in game and no one will bother training up INT either. The mana regeneration is way out of line. C'mon! This is a huge example of the backward slide that continues down the muddy, glass covered hill of item escalation.

Instead of equipment, how about we see those skills get a workover so we can use them for more and better things? How about we make the game about character development, not item purchase (which leads to the inevitable need for more and more gold... we all know where that takes us).

Sorry to gripe, but this goes to the root of the issues here.

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Actually it is for all the reasons that you posted that makes UO a great game. You can make a bard who is usefull but at the same time removed some of the team play that might have occured in less sandbox type of game. I use my bard all the time and after re-reading the link in the first post have come to the conclusion that I am indeed going to swap out my current suit for a imbued version of the virtuoso one.

If you want to play a non-item version of the game I would say that a free shard is the only option but I would bet that it's less thrilling as you might recall. Even UO back in 99 was item dependant but most players just never figured out the correct items.

Actually it is for all the reasons that you posted that makes UO a great game. You can make a bard who is usefull but at the same time removed some of the team play that might have occured in less sandbox type of game. I use my bard all the time and after re-reading the link in the first post have come to the conclusion that I am indeed going to swap out my current suit for a imbued version of the virtuoso one.

If you want to play a non-item version of the game I would say that a free shard is the only option but I would bet that it's less thrilling as you might recall. Even UO back in 99 was item dependant but most players just never figured out the correct items.

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So.... Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are saying that you want to play solo? If so, then I guess I don't understand why you are playing UO.

I was under the impression that the sandbox is not designed to allow everyone to operate in a bubble, it is designed to allow everyone to have an effect on one another.

Any item that is specifically designed to bypass integral parts of the game (reagents for magic / mana requirements / across the board damage mitigation) are over-powered in my opinion.

Just my thoughts. Items actually were only important to an extent in the early days of the game (when I initially played). Mostly because you knew that you could lose them at any time and so you were not so dependent on them. Now with insurance and repair deeds, this stuff sticks around forever!

Could you please explain why this suit is OP? Could you not imbue a crafted set with the same stats, except the barding bonus of course? But, then the people from the thread you link say that they are not impressed by the bonus.

Could you please explain why this suit is OP? Could you not imbue a crafted set with the same stats, except the barding bonus of course? But, then the people from the thread you link say that they are not impressed by the bonus.

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Well, I think this suit is OP specifically for the reason you stated above. It's not just that it's something you can do yourself to a crafted set, but it's BEYOND that!

Equipment in general is too OP, no need for skill any longer when you can go get yourself some gold and buy a suit of this stuff.

Stratics VeteranSupporter

Last but the vast majority of times that I use my bard is in a group setting at a spawn/corgul or t-hunting but there are times that my guild doesn't wish to do such things and I am left to my own. For this I both need and want a char that can provide the support without need other players to do this.

I don't wish to play this game solo but there are alot of moments where one will find that they are alone. For my personal situation it might be that on my main shard I am part of one of the two large PvP guilds and it is hard to find others whom will let you into the fold after you kill, raid and take stuff but such is life and I'd rather not change it. For other shards where I have made chars to farm and do stuff I just don't have the time to guild up and find others mostly due to main shard duties but again these guys are just a way to support my pvp.

Lower reagent cost? Does this mean that the bards instruments don't wear out? If not, it's got nothing to do with barding.

Lower Mana Cost? Bards don't use Mana....

4 full minutes of Bard Mastery? That seems like an awful lot.

With those levels of resistance, why bother with any defensive skills?

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ok first, the bard masteries use mana, and cost mana to upkeep them. so the LMC is extremely needed. secondly, lrc has nothing to do with instrument use. the instruments will still decay with use. i'm sure this is a mage that also casts healing spells, or maybe summons? last, even with all 70 in resist, you're capable of taking massive amounts of damage. but most bards will likely use peacemaking as a defensive skill because it stops monsters from attacking.

i'm not sure if you think this suit comes the way it's shown, but it doesn't. it only comes with the mastery properties. the reason why it's not "OP" is because you are sacrificing some properties and item slots by using it. such as using one of the special glasses, or artifact helmets.

to me, this suit helps a bard play an active role in a group while still offering some support. whether that be added damage, or healing.

ok first, the bard masteries use mana, and cost mana to upkeep them. so the LMC is extremely needed. secondly, lrc has nothing to do with instrument use. the instruments will still decay with use. i'm sure this is a mage that also casts healing spells, or maybe summons? last, even with all 70 in resist, you're capable of taking massive amounts of damage. but most bards will likely use peacemaking as a defensive skill because it stops monsters from attacking.

i'm not sure if you think this suit comes the way it's shown, but it doesn't. it only comes with the mastery properties. the reason why it's not "OP" is because you are sacrificing some properties and item slots by using it. such as using one of the special glasses, or artifact helmets.

to me, this suit helps a bard play an active role in a group while still offering some support. whether that be added damage, or healing.

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Bardic Music is not Magic. They should be using Stamina, not Mana to power the mastery of this suit. That's neither here, nor there though, since the mechanic is already in place. LMC is still not 'necessary' as it removes one of the most important check/balance aspects of the game - You run out of mana, you don't cast spells. This goes hand in hand with LRC which again removes one of the vital mechanics of the game.

Magery was designed to have limited power and resources for a reason and then they came along and removed those requirements, which now makes magery disproportionately powerful.

Bardic Music is extremely powerful. There are several checks put in place to keep it respectable. First is a double skill check (Musicianship and then the Power Skill), second is the limited uses on an instrument (this one isn't even that big of a deal since even the worst ones come with 250 uses on them). You also brought up a valid point with your observation that the Bard would use Peacemaking for defense.... If that is the case, then why on earth should they have the possibility of having a full set of 70 resist?

Do you see where I'm going here? There used to be checks and balances for most all the skills. Those have been taken away and along with them the need for teammates, the ability/necessity to specialize and the element of danger in the game.

EVERYONE is a Mage, and why not? You don't have to focus on it, you can get some jewelry and an LRC/LRM suit.

The suit above makes the character a Mage/Bard/Tank who never runs out of power or supplies.... Doesn't sound fun to me.

you seem disgruntled with the system put into place, not so much this suit. these properties were established well before this suit was even thought of. i'm not going to debate about LMC and LRC being used, as it's been this way for far too long and nothing we say or think is going to change that.

i will say, UO is about customization, you choose what properties to put on your gear, some people want to run around with regs and have better properties, some people don't.

Bardic Music is not Magic. They should be using Stamina, not Mana to power the mastery of this suit.

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i understand it's a physical activity to play an instrument, but the special abilities that are being placed out there are magical buffs. also, if they were based on stamina, people could chug total refresh potions and would truly be able to keep the masteries up.

Magery was designed to have limited power and resources for a reason and then they came along and removed those requirements, which now makes magery disproportionately powerful.

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what? how? when did they decide that magery was supposed to have limited power? it has the most spells of all the casting skills. how is it "too" powerful? the attacks or heals are no better or worse than other skills. magery just offers great support even without eval, therefore it is often chosen.

You also brought up a valid point with your observation that the Bard would use Peacemaking for defense.... If that is the case, then why on earth should they have the possibility of having a full set of 70 resist?

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again, arguing with the current mechanics put into place well before the suit was established. so a person with 120 parrying shouldn't be able to achieve 70% elemental resist? a person with 100 hiding shouldn't be able as well? these are defensive abilities, elemental resist has nothing to do with them. resist property is being chosen to imbue on to the suit, that's a choice at the sacrifice of another potential property.

The suit above makes the character a Mage/Bard/Tank who never runs out of power or supplies.... Doesn't sound fun to me.

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the suit doesn't keep them from running out of mana any more than a normal suit would. never runs out of power? i'm not sure what you are talking about here. the buff the suit gives? it's just an increased chance to successfully peace, provoke or discord by 5% for 1 minute, with a total of 4 minutes and a 15 minute cooldown when used. i don't see how you "don't run out of power" here. doesn't run out of supplies? instruments still break the same without the suit. the only thing they don't have to use is reagants, and LRC is an option by sacrificing that property slot for other properties.

when it boils down to it, you are arguing about the current mechanics of the game, not the suit. the suit just gives bards a small buff to succeed when using their skills, nothing else. paired that with losing one property slot due to needing to imbue mage armor on it to be a medable suit and with a total property cap of 450 on each piece, the wearer is taking a pretty large hit in other property categories to sport one of these suits. there is a pretty decent balance.

you seem disgruntled with the system put into place, not so much this suit.

When it boils down to it, you are arguing about the current mechanics of the game, not the suit. the suit just gives bards a small buff to succeed when using their skills, nothing else.

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You, my wonderful friend are absolutely, positively and completely correct. This suit is just an example of how far the item escalation has gone. Boiling it down does tend to make the argument look somewhat pointless, but I'm going to have it anyway.... It's cathartic to bring up things that bother me!

I'm still of a mind that GM is the highest necessary skill. Bringing in too powerful equipment and too high a skill level created an 'end game' that was never really in existance before and is completely unnecessary to the structure of this or any other game.

If you institute an end game then you instantly limit your game, because you have created a pinnacle that will be driven for. The mentality being that the content in the middle is nothing more than preparation for the end and once you reach the end, what more is there?

That is the single biggest issue with the MMO gaming industry as a whole; at least as far as I can see from reviewing the message boards. End Game is boring, there's nothing to do, blah, blah, blah....

The game should be the game, not the end of the game and UO used to be about this.

Anyway, I appreciate your clarity and I also appreciate you digging out my point. Sometimes I lose sight of it while I'm ranting about my BS.... I do go on!

i value your desire to look into the mechanics because i believe most people just do what they are told is the next best thing and just tunnel vision right into that type of play without understanding it.

i believe the game has to constantly evolve or it will stagnate and truly become an "end game" moment. adding new items, like this suit, keeps people trying new things and new ways to achieve old goals.

to me, it's nice to see something new come out rather than the same old gear for years upon years of pinata item farming. it proves to us that the devs are either, 1. not playing very much to understand the current game mechanics, or 2. that they actually do understand them.

i value your desire to look into the mechanics because i believe most people just do what they are told is the next best thing and just tunnel vision right into that type of play without understanding it.

i believe the game has to constantly evolve or it will stagnate and truly become an "end game" moment. adding new items, like this suit, keeps people trying new things and new ways to achieve old goals.

to me, it's nice to see something new come out rather than the same old gear for years upon years of pinata item farming. it proves to us that the devs are either, 1. not playing very much to understand the current game mechanics, or 2. that they actually do understand them.

i feel this is an important step in continuing the ultima franchise.

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I feel the same way. I just would have done it a bit differently, that's all.

I would have implemented a quest system.

Player housing that uses existing structures to rent so all could have some type of housing (maybe even instanced).

Investigated the possibility of doing 'reality TV' type elements in the game (stuff like roommates in a house, or team competitions that got the weakest person voted out of the team).

Maybe even the opportunity to start an NPC family of some sort.

A complete rework of the virtues and anti-virtues in order to provide quests and allow people to obtain Avatar or Guardian levels in the virtues.

There would have been work on the NPC/MOB UI to make it better over time.

Skills would have received a complete re-work to make them have more synergies and make characters more customizable.

I would have tried to focus on what already exists to make it better, more useable and more interesting.

Of course, I can say that, because I don't work there and I don't know what processes and financial issues they were up against. I just know, in my heart of hearts that item escalation breeds more of the same and no one is ever satisfied with what they have for long.

P.S. - I LOVE the way the new equipment works with the various resistances; I just think it has gone beyond the level of what is reasonable and into the ridiculous.

The down side, and quite one, IMHO, is the exceptionally low 125/125 Durability which makes the resources expenditure perhaps not much worth it.

They should have made them start with 255/255 since they tagged them as (imbued) to start with......

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you want an item that is so easily bought to start with 255 maximum durability? what would be the sense of buying more than a one? this would ruin the price of them as they would last forever and people wouldn't need to keep buying them. there probably isn't one active player who has used their maximum durability on a 255 max item unless they aren't repairing it properly. 125 is plenty and makes perfect sense. these suits are intended to not last forever so there is added incentive to keep doing the clean-up.

some of you may now know, but ive been know to play a bard or two in my days.

and i have to admit, i didnt pick up one of these suits.

why?

5%

what is 5%???

if your barding high end going from 9% to 14% in a suit that you cant restack durability just isnt worth the expense.

that, and im not coordinated enough to click on my armor to activate it nor keep track of when i can use it again.

but i think this whole thread is going down two different trails.
one, the old school LRC was the begining of the end, we should all still be turning butter by hand fella, and the people who like the changes the game has made over the last 14 years.

meh, some days i miss being capped at GM.
some days i miss that we can lock our skills.
some days i miss the old days.... then i remember how much of a pain in the ass it was, haha, and then i log in and go play with my guys and love it.

Stratics VeteranSupporter

If the information located here http://vboards.stratics.com/uo-bard/250107-new-bard-set.html is correct and the default bonus does apply regardless of if you have clicked the armor then I think it's worth it. I remade my suit last night and have a near similar suit to the one listed above though I added INT over luck. If you do plan on using a bard and plan on trying to reduce the amount you get hit I see no reason to not purchase, imbue and use the suit. I'd also add that if you are worried about the eventual destruction of the items just pick up a spare set or two which will insure that you have them till the end of the game I'd bet.

Stratics VeteranStratics Legend

If the information located here http://vboards.stratics.com/uo-bard/250107-new-bard-set.html is correct and the default bonus does apply regardless of if you have clicked the armor then I think it's worth it. I remade my suit last night and have a near similar suit to the one listed above though I added INT over luck. If you do plan on using a bard and plan on trying to reduce the amount you get hit I see no reason to not purchase, imbue and use the suit. I'd also add that if you are worried about the eventual destruction of the items just pick up a spare set or two which will insure that you have them till the end of the game I'd bet.

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Hmm, that's not how I read it. I think you have to click the suit to get the bonus.

Stratics VeteranSupporter

When you place the fourth part of the armor on you get a message saying that it has combined which I suspect gives you the 5% bonus though it's near impossible to tell without massive checking but it would be great if a Dev team member spoke up about any or all of these suits.

IMO for many purposes, you can just wear one piece of the armor. For instance, say you are going to disco a peerless/harrower/whatnot--you probably only need one piece so you can get that disco in more quickly. You could take along another piece or two just in case. As far as wearing it for long periods, pretty expensive and you will run out of suit one of these days...I will be stingy with mine.

BTW I futzed with the resists a bit to work with pieces I had and ended up with all 70s total. I made the resists that were weakest already stronger whenever possible, think I ended up very slightly better. My cap is 15 8 23 8 11, gorget 4 19 14 13 5, gloves 17 19 5 5 9 (same total I think) and tunic is 17 20 7 18 8 (same too?) I am new to imbuing so it took me forever to figure out how to get things tweaked to work with my other pieces.

Ofc if you want to sort of marry the suit to other pieces that have LRC you could fit in some other good stuff, but I did as you did with the LRC and most other stuff.

Stratics Veteran

so i wasted my time and turn in points because the tunic needs to be mage armor?why didnt it say somewhere it was non medable?its a freakin bard suit,what a waste of time

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Yup, quite odd. Its deep purple color makes it even harder to see what material it is. Only when highlighted, it was more noticeable it is a studded tunic. Almost made that mistake to imbue without mage armor. But why mage armor. I hope it wasn't a mistake by design.

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